Portable imprinting device for embossed cards

ABSTRACT

A printing machine for use with embossed cards and manifold forms. A one-piece base extrusion has a horizontal table portion and two vertical portions at each side thereof with horizontal flanges extending beyond the flanges to provide a roller guide and raceway. A movable carriage assembly has a cover member with a pair of side plates joined by a transverse plate of generally inverted U-shape, with a pair of transport rollers rotatably supported by each side plate and running in the guide and raceway. An inner frame is secured to the cover and from it hangs freely a yoke and having stop means thereon and rotatably supporting a printing roller for engaging the card to cause imprinting of the embossed portion. When the carriage assembly is moved forwardly, the yoke swings, and its stop means engaging a portion of said carriage assembly so as to hold the printing roller down in an imprinting position, but the yoke is swung out of engagement with the carriage assembly during return movement, letting the roller lift so as to avoid a second imprinting. One embodiment swings open to enable use of large manifolds; another is for a set size of form.

United States Patent [1 1 Pinedo PORTABLE IMPRINTING DEVICE FOR EMBOSSED CARDS 22 Filed: Jan. 12, 1973.

21 Appl. No.: 323,290

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 21, 1972 Mexico 132826 July 13, 1972 Mexico 136567 [52 us. Cl.' .Q 101/2 9 [51] Int. Cl B4lf 3/04 [58] Field of Search 101/269-274 [56] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,274,931 9/1966 Patterson 1Ql/269 3,279,369 10/1966 Wight 101/269 3,388,660 6/1968 Wight... 101/269 3,484,326 12/1969 Grandinett 101/269 X 3,572,241 3/1971 Waterman lO l/269 3,610,148 10/1971 Penaluna 101/269 3,704,668 12/1972 St. Onge et al. 101/269 3,763,777 10/1973 Brown 101/269 [451 Aug. 20, 1974 Primary Exz zminerRobert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Edward M. Coven Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Owen, Wickersham & Erickson ABSTRACT A printing machine for use with embossed cards and manifold forms. A one-piece base extrusion has a horizontal table portion and two vertical portions at each side thereof with horizontal flanges extending beyond the flanges to provide a roller guide and raceway. A

movable carriage assembly has a cover member with a pair of side plates joined by a transverse plateof generally inverted U-shape, with a pair of transport-rollers rotatably supported by each side plate and running in the guide and raceway. An inner frame is secured to the cover and from it hangs freely a yoke and having stop means thereon and rotatably supporting a print-. ing roller for engaging the card to cause imprinting of the embossed portion. When the carriage assembly is moved forwardly, the yoke swings, and its stop means engaging a portion of said carriage assembly so as to hold the printing roller down in an imprinting position, but the yoke is swung out of engagement with the carriage assembly during return movement, letting the roller lift so as to avoidja second imprinting. One embodiment swings open to enable use of large manifolds; another is for -a set size of form.

8 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PAIENIEI] M182 0 I974 SHIT!!! 4 FIG. 8

FIG. 7

PAlENTEmuczolau SHEEN!!! 4 FIG. 12

v FIG. 11

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Embossed cards are widely in use as credit cards (among other uses) partly because they enable the merchant or dispenser of services to print accurately the name and account number of the holder of the credit card on a manifold of forms. Thus, when an embossed credit card is placed in a suitable machine and the machine is operated to press the credit card against the manifold and move it over the manifold, the enibossed information is printed by carbon paper inside the manifold on the various sheets of the manifold.

Heretofore, problems have been caused by variations in the thickness of the credit card, variations in the thickness of the manifold, variations in the thicknesses of the plates of the printing machine, etc. Printing machines have been relatively complex and expensive, and one purpose of the present invention is to provide a simple, less expensive, but more practical machine.

One reason for the complexity and expense has been the use of springsin the mechanism which urges the roller against the embossed credit card, in order to achieve the pressure and to coompensate at the same time for differences in thickness. Such springs have tended to break and to require replacement or to cause trouble in other ways, and they have not been able to compensate .fully for the differences inthicknesses in different kinds of credit cards or even in different batches of the same credit card, etc. One often sees a credit card machine of this type where the vendor has pasted several thicknesses of sticky tape on one part of the anvil of the machine in an attempt to build yp sufficient thickness to get an even impression, and even more often one sees uneven and practically unreadable impressions on some of the copies of the manifold, if

not all of them. Thus there have been problems in obtaining legible and uniform printing from the embossed card.

Another feature which has been wanting in prior art machines has been ready adjustability once unevenness is found. Ordinarily such machines have not been adjustable, or where they have been adjustable, the have been adjustable only at the factory or only by completely disassembling the machine, so that adjustment could be done only by an expert.

Another difficulty met with machines for printing from embossed credit cards has been that the machines have often been limited to the use of one type of form. Sometimes this is quite all right, and one form of the present invention is directed to that kind of machine.

But often it has been. desirable to use the embossedcard to print on larger sizes of paper for any of various reasons, and in those instances the machines heretofore in use have been unable to do this'and such operations had to be done entirely by hand or else the card used only for making a hand-printed copy.

Complexities, highoriginal cost,.poor maintenance ability, lack of easeof adjustability, and reliance on springs and other parts that tend to break have characterized the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a springless printing machine for use with embossed cards, a machine that is capable of ready adjustment and, in some forms the invention, can be used on many sizes of paper. The avoidance of reliance on springs is one of the important features and is accomplished by a freely swinging mounting of a yoke carrying the roller in such away thatwhen the yoke isurged toward one direction the roller is forced down firmly against the credit card, the manifold, and an anvil; whereas when the yoke is urged toward the other direction, it simply swings the roller away from the manifold, operating without springs and without any complex arrangement to prevent blurring of the forms by preventing reprinting. The journaling of the printing roller and the suspension of the yoke are such that there is ready adjustability to place more pressure on one end of the roller than the other, or to equalize them, or to change the pressure of the printing roller on the embossed card at any time.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of a novel ba's'e'emsias which 551T lie-readily adap ted to different types of credit cards and to different uses. The extrusion used in this machine not only lowers the ex. pense of original manufacture but provides for reinforcement, for reception of screws, for marginal controls, for addition of storage boxes, and other uses.

One form of the invention provides a stationary base,

whereas another form of the invention provides a base which can be swung open and which can take a variety of different sizes of paper, some of which may even be larger than the machine itself in area. Both forms include a movable head carrying the printing roller and its yoke.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of an imprinting mav shown in section, of a portion of the deviceof FIGS. 1

and 2 during the forward movement of the head and printing roller, when printing is obtained.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the position of the printing roller and its yoke during reverse movement, which avoids reprinting and therefore avoids blurring the printing on the forms.

FIG. 5 is a view in perspective of a modified form of I imprinting device embodying the principles of the invention, for use with a wide variety of sizes of manifolds. Themachine is-shown here in its closed position.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5' with the machine swung open to enable the insertionof the paper or manifold over the credit card.

FIG. 7 is a view in end elevation of a device of FIG. 5 I

FIG. 8 is a view in section taken along the line 8-8 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary enlarged view in end elevation of a' modified form of yoke, printing roller and inner frame, with some portions broken away and shown in section.

FIG. is a view in section taken along the line 10-10 in FIG. 9, with the yoke and roller swung against stop screws and in imprinting position.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary enlarged view in side elevation of another form of yoke, printing roller, and associated parts of the carriage assembly, some parts being broken away and shown in section.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary view in end elevation and partly in section of a portion of the assembly of FIG. 1 1.

DESCRIPTION of SOME PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The imprinting machine of FIGS. 1 through 4 A machine 20 embodying the principles of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 through 4. The machine 20 is especially well adapted to the regular use of a particular credit card or type of credit card along with a particular size of form. Sometimes large credit card organizations have forms which are substantially identical in size to those of other credit card organizations, and in this instance the forms and cards may be'interchangeable in the machine 20. some adaptability is also possible, but the main idea here is to provide a simple, inexpensive, foolproof machine for use with a particular type of credit card and where uniform, repetitive actions are performed.

The machine 20 includes a base extrusion 21, a very important part of the invention. This extrusion 21 may be made from aluminum alloy, for example, and as shown in FIG. 2, especially, it will be seen that'it provides a horizontal table portion 22, two vertical suporting side portions 23 and 24, and two base portions 25 and 26. The base portions 25 and 26, the vertical portions 23 and 24, and the table portion 22, combine at their outer edges to provide a pair of guides and raceways 27 and 28 which, as will be seen, accommodate sets of rollers for the movable portion of the machine 20. Thus, outwardly extending flanges 30, 31, 32 and 33 provide upper and lower rails for the rollers.

On one side of the extrusion 21, above the table 22, is a square channel or guide member 33, provided by an upwardly extending portion;34 and an upper portion 36 parallel to the table 22, this entire structure being an integral part of theextrusion 21. Along the other edge, is an inclined angle portion 37, also integral with the extrusion, providing another guide member. Beneath the surface of the table 22'is provided a'series of reinforcing channels 38, 39, 40,41 and 42, which may be generally cylindrical in form, as shown, with aslot near their bottom. Thus, there may be a center such channel 40, two end channels-38 and 42, and two intermediate channesl 39 and 41. These channels not only serve for reinforcing but also receive screws at each end for holding the assembled device together. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, two end pieces 44 and 45, which are L-shaped, are held to the extrusion 21 by screws (not shown in these views but similar to those in FIG. 6),

The base extrusion 21 with its end members 44 and 45 combine to provide the stationary part of the apparatus 20. .The movable part of the apparatus is provided by a head or carriage assembly 50. The carriage assembly 50 includes a cover member 51 having a pairof side plates 52 and 53 joined by ba transverse or cover plate 54, which may be shaped like an inverted U. Each side plate 52, 53 carries rotatably a pair of transport rollers 55 and 56 that ride in the channnels 27 and 28 of the extrusion '21. The transport rollers 55 and 56 may be made of nylon or other suitable material to give low friction operation. The cover plate 54 protects an imprinting roller 60'and protects the user from getting his fingers dirty from contact with the printing roller 60. It also supports the suspension system device for the printing roller 60.

As shown in FIG. 2, the machine 20 has an inner carriage assembly or inner frame 57 which may be supported by being screwed to the side plates 52and 53. This assembly or inner frame 57 has sides 48 and 49 extending up parallel to and against the side plates 52 and 53 of the carriage cover 51, and then has inset portions 58 and 59 leading horizontally inwardly on each side to upper vertical portions 61 and 62 that meet and are integral with a horizontal bridge 63. Each vertical portion 61, 62 may be provided with a vertically elongated slot 64 or 65. These elongated slots 64 and 65 hold a shaft 66 in a fixed fore-and-aft position relative to the carriage 50, and this shaft 66 is adjustable vertically in the slots 64 and 65. Vertical adjustment may be accomplished by the use of the screws 67 and 68 which pass right through threaded openings in the shaft 66, as shown inFIG. 2, or it may be done in a different manner to be describ later. Accurate vertical adjustment of the shaft 66 enables it to be level or to be higher on one side than the other and enables it to be at various heights, to make up for discrepancies in other parts, thus achieving the adjustment feature referred to earlier.

The shaft 66 supports a yoke 70 so that it can swing freely forward and back, like a pendulum. The yoke 70, in turn, rotatably supports the printing roller 60. Thus,

the printing roller 60 may be mounted on a stationary shaft 71 which passes through a lower portion of two arms 72 and 73 of the yoke 70 and is held by that loosely. The roller 60 may be provided with a relatively rigid cylindrical core and an outer covering of elastomer.

The arms 72 and 73 are provided with a projection 74 that acts as a stop means, in combination with the covermember 51, the yoke swinging when the carriage 50 is moved forward, so that the stop means 74 of the arms 72 and 73 engage a vertical portion 75 of the cover 51, and the printing roller 60 is then held down rigidly in its lowermost position and therefore is urged strongly towards the table 22; it therefore presses any intermediate parts such as a credit card with embossed figures and letters firmly against a manifold. When the carriage 50 is moved in'the other direction, there is no such engagement, for the arms 72 and 73 of the yoke 70 swing away in the opposite direction, and the printing roller 60 does not normally even touch the paper or if it does, touches it only lightly so that no impression or blur is made.

As shown in FIG. 1, an anvil is completed by securing to the table portion 22 a pair of plates 76 and 77, which are made removable in order to adjust from one type of embossed member to another. For example, one of these plates 76 may support an embossed metal mem-' ber usefully employed by the vendor to record its own name and address and its account number with the credit card firm; whereas the other plate 77 may be made of the proper thickness to accommodate a purchasers credit card. Normally the proprietors embossed plate is of metal and is of a different thickness from the plastic credit card, and therefore the two plates 76 and 77 are made and installed separately and replaced separately. As a result, different thicknesses can readily be accommodated in manufacture and be available for use. If the thicknesses of the plates 76 and 77 do not fully compensate, then the adjustment of the screws 67 and 68 will do so.

With the plates 76 and 77 in place on the table surface 22, the anvil is complete, and the proprietor secures to the roper plate 76 his own embossing plate. When a credit card is to be used, it is inserted into the guide 34 and is preferably guided also by a pair of stop members 78 and 79 secured to the table 22. The manifold form is then placed over the credit card, as guided by the two guide members 34 and 37, and by an engagement member 80 at each end, and then the carriage is moved over the manifold, achieving the embossment as the printing roller is pressed firmly down towards the anvil and then when (due to engagement of the extension 74 of the arms 72 and 73 with the portion of the cover) the printing roller 60 ismoved in the opposite direction, to enable the vendor to take out the manifold and credit card, the printing roller 60 is automatically freed to preventthe taking of a second, or blurring impression.

As FIG. 2 shows, a storage box 81 may easily be secured to the bottom of the base extrusion 21, as by a slip fit, so that the vendors copies of the manifold may be stored there, as by slipping them in from one end.

The device of FIGS. 5 through 8 As stated before, it is sometimes advisable to use the credit cards on a variety of sizes of paper, and when this is done, the machine of FIGS. 5 to 8 is particularly suit able.

The machine 100 utilizes the extrusion 21 again but does so in a somewhat modified manner, in that two slots 101 and 102 are provided, which are open at one end and closed at the opposite end. These two slots 101 and 102 receive elongated arm portions 103 and 104 of a yoke 105 supporting the roller 60, and the roller 60 is then located beneath the table'surface of the extrusion 21, where it will bear on a separate anvil member 110. This anvil member may comprise a single metal plate to which the extrusion 21 is pivoted by a pivot 111 as shown in FIG. 6, so that the machine 100 can be swung'open. The anvil member 110 may be provided with its own simple metal plates 112 and 113 (like the plates 76 and 77), such as may be required by the particular proprietor. the pivotal arrangement enables opening the machine, and it will be noted that the extrusion 21 in this instance may be closed by a bottom plate 114, preferably leaving a short windown area,l15 substantially equivalent to the area of the credit card to be used. Credit cards are almost always of the standard size, and it is therefore quite possibleto predict the amount of space they will take, whereas the amount of space the paper will take is relatively unpredictable. An end member 116 secured to the extrusion 21 in this instance is used as a handle and so may be provided with a handle loop 117 for use in opening and closure. The end member 116 and an opposite end member 118 close the raceways 27 and 28 for the transport rollers 55 and 56; the end members 116 and 118 are secured to the extrusion 21 by screws 119. I

A carriage member 120 may be substantially the same as the carriage 50, and the transport rollers 55 and 56 move as before in the raceways 27 and 28 provided by the extrusion 21. Again, the printing roller 60 acts similarly to what it did before but is on a yoke 105 with longer arms 103 and 104, which extend down through the slots 101 and 102. The extrusion 21 helps in this instance by providing the center channel 40 which strengthens the extrusion 21 and also makes fastening easy in this location. The screws 119 thread themselves into the channels 38, 39 and 40.

By way of example, a different sort of adjustment mechanism is shown in FIG. 8 in which screws 121 and 122 do not extend through a shaft 123, but in this instance abut against it and therefore force one end or the other down.

Except for the operation of swinging open the device I and except for the fact that the printing roller 60 is operating through the window 115, the operation here is substantially the same as that in the device already described. Modified adjustment means (FIGS. 9-12) FIGS. 9 and 10 show a modified assembly of parts of the carriage assembly, and FIGS. 11 and 12 show another modified assembly.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, the printing roller 60 and its shaft 71 are carried by a yoke 123 having arms 124 and 125 joined by' a bridge 126 lying to one side of the arms 124 and 125 near their upper end. A shaft 127 is held by members 128 and 129 of an inner frame 130 having a bridge 131 lying generally parallel to the bridge 126. Screws 132 and 133 are threaded through the bridge 131 and form stops which the bridge 126 abuts when the yoke 123 and the printing roller 60 are swung to the rollers imprinting position.

In FIGS. 11 and 12 the printing roller 60 is carried on a shaft 135 which is adjustable in its yoke 136 or by set 1 screws 137. The yoke 136 has a bridge 140 lying near its lower end and to the rear thereof, and serving as a stop which engages stop screws 141 that are threaded through a carriage cover plate 142.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differpiece a thin horizontal table portion and two thin" vertical portions at each side thereof with thin horizont'al flanges extending beyond said vertical portions to provide a roller guide and raceway, and

a movable carriage assembly having a pair of side members each rotatably supporting a pair of transport rollers that run in a respective said guide and raceway, and frame means between said side members having a handle for moving said carriage assembly,

a yoke pivotally supported by and within said frame means for free swinging movement, so that forward movement of said carriage assembly effects relative swingting movement of said yoke backwardly and rearward movement of said carriage effects relative forward movement of said yoke, said yoke having stop means thereon for engaging said frame means when said yoke is swung backwardly a predetermined amount, said yoke being provided with means for rotatably supporting a printing roller for engaging a said card to cause imprinting of its embossed portion,

forward movement of said printing roller, as caused by forward movement of said carriage assembly, swinging said yoke backwardly whereby said top means engages said frame means to hold said printing roller in an imprinting position, said yoke being swung forwardly to move the stop means out of engagement with said frame means during return movement of said carriage assembly, thereby retracting said roller from imprinting position to avoid a second imprinting, saidprinting machine further having end closure means at each end of said base extrusion for closing the ends of said reaceways and said extrusion, said extrusion having generally cylindrical tubular depending lengthwise portions directly affixed to the lower surface of said table portion and said end closure means being secured to said extrusion by screws that are threaded into said cylindrical tubular depending portions.

2. The printing machine of claim 1 having means for adjusting the position of the pivotal support of said yoke relative to said frame means, for varying the printing pressure of said printing roller.

3. The printing machine of claim 1 wherein the portion of said carriage assembly engaged by said stop means of said yoke during forward movement of said carriage assembly comprises a pair of screws adjustably threaded through said frame and projecting out therefrom.

4. The printing machine of claim 1 having means for adjusting the position of the pivotal support of said yoke relative to said frame for varying the printing pressure of said printing roller, both as a whole and from one side of said printing roller to the other.

5. A printing machine for use with embossed credit cards and a standard size of manifold forms, including in combination:

a base extrusion having a uniform lateral cross setion throughout its length, providing in one integral piece a thin horizontal table portion and two thinvertical portions at each side thereof with thin hori-' zontal flanges extending beyond said vertical por-' tions to provide a roller guide and raceway, said extrusion providing also a thin integral guide channel at each side above said raceway to receive the op-.

posite edge of said form and one edge of a said credit card for lateral location therof,

a pair of anvil plates of different thickness removably secured to said extrusion, one'which said credit card is to overlie. and one for receiving a vendors embossed identification plate,

removable guides secured to said table portion for locating said credit card for lengthwide location thereof, and

a movable carriage assemblyhaving a cover with a pair of side plates joined by a transa printing roller rotatably supported by said yoke for engaging a said credit card supported by said table portion to cause imprinting of the embossed portion on a table-portion-supported said manifold form, without the use of springs,

whereby forward movement of said printing roller, as

caused by forward movement of said carriage assembly over said table portion causes said yoke portion to swing rearwardly until'said stop means engages said portion of said carriage assembly to thereby hold said printing roller down in an imprinting position, and whereby return movement of said carriage assembly causes said yoke to be swung out of-engagement with said carriage assembly so that said printing roller is retracted from its imprinting position, so as to avoid a second imprinting,

end closure members at each end of said extrusion,

saidextrusion having a plurality of generally round cylindrical protrusions forming hollow channels beneath and integral with said table portion, extending lengthwise from end-toj-end thereof, and

screws securing each said end closure member to said base extrusion by entering and self-threading themselves to said cylindrical channels, said end closure members closing the ends of said roller guides and raceways and thereby limiting fore-and-aft movement of said carriage assembly and preventing the transport rollers from leaving their raceways.

6. A printing machine for use with embossed credit cards and a wide variety of manifold forms, including in combination:

a stationary anvil assembly,

a base extrusion, uniform in lateral cross section throughout its length, pivotally secured to said anvil assembly at one end thereof and providing in one integral member a horizontal table portion and two vertical portions at each side thereof with horizontal flanges extending beyond said vertical portions to provide a roller guide and raceway, said extrusion having a pair of lengthwise extending slots through said table portion and having a plurality of lengthwise extending protrusions forming channels on the bottom urface of said table portion and reinforcing it, said channels being generally cylindrical in shape, at least one said channel lying between said slots,

closure members at each end of said base extrusion and secured thereto by screws extending into a plurality of said channels, including the one lying between said slots,

a bottom cover plate secured to the bottom of said extrusion and having a window therethrough, and

a movable carriage assembly having a cover with a pair of side plates joined by a transverse plate of generally inverted U-shape a pair of transport rollers rotatably supported by each said side plate and running in a said guide and raceway, an inner frame secured to said cover, a yoke wholly inside said cover, pivotally supported at an upper end by said inner frame for free swinging movement, and swinging rearwardly when said carriage assembly is moved forwardly and swinging forwardly as said carriage assembly is moved rearwardly, said yoke having stop means thereon and having arms extending through said slots and beneath said table portion, said carriage assembly having a portion engaged by said stops when said yoke swings rearwardly, printing roller rotatably supported by said yoke in said base extrusion in alignment with said window in at least one of its positions for engaging a said credit card supported on said anvil assembly to cause imprinting of the embossed portion on a form also supported on said anvil assembly, said roller being held in printing position by the stop means of said yoke engaging said portion of said carriage assembly, means pivotally mounting said base extrusion on said anvil assembly for swinging movement up therefrom to carry said carriage assembly with it, for insertions of said form and credit card, said base extrusion then being swingable down to overlie said anvil assembly,

so that forward movement of said printing roller as caused by forward movement of said carriage assembly causes said yoke to swing rearwardly so that said stop means engages said portion of said carriage assembly to hold said printing roller down in an imprinting position, said yoke then being swingable forwardly out of engagement with said carriage assembly during return movement of said carriage assembly and printing roller, to retract said printing roller during return movement away from its imprinting position, thereby avoiding a second imprinting.

7. The printing machine of claim 6 wherein said anvil assembly comprises a main plate and, removably and adjustably secured therto, means for aligning a said credit card and a said manifold form.

8. The printing machine of claim 6 having means for adjusting the position of the pivotal support of said yoke relative to said inner frame for varying the printing pressure of said printing roller on said anvil assembly, both as a whole and from end to end.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 35830,].55 Dated August 20, 1974 Inventor(s) C Abraham Mejia Pinedo It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 26, "coompensate" should read "compensate". Column 1, line'35, should read --up' line 46, "the" should read --tbey'--- I v Column line 23, 'som'" should read "Some- Column line 54 'channesl" should read channels-- Column line "ha" should read --a-- C I Column line 31, "describ" should read "described- Column I line 59, 'w indown" should read -window-'-.

Column line 15, "roper" should read-"proper line 56, toss-section" should read --cross section-- Column 3 Column line 25, 'reaceways" should read --'raceways- Column Column 5 8 line 57, 'urfacel' should read surface-- Column line 3, place a comma after "U-shape'Y Signed and sealed this 3rd day of December 1974.

(S EAL) FORM PC4050 (10-69) I I I 5 uscomwbc coin-F 09 I i: u.s. cov un ulnr murlim'omcl: IIOI o-uusu. 

1. A printing machine for use with embossed cards and manifold forms, including in combination: a base extrusion having uniform lateral ross section throughout its length providing in one integral piece a thin horizontal table portion and two thin vertical portions at each side thereof with thin horizontal flanges extending beyond said vertical portions to provide a roller guide and raceway, and a movable carriage assembly having a pair of side members each rotatably supporting a pair of transport rollers that run in a respective said guide and raceway, and frame means between said side members having a handle for moving said carriage assembly, a yoke pivotally supported by and within said frame means for free swinging movement, so that forward movement of said carriage assembly effects relative swingting movement of said yoke backwardly and rearward movement of said carriage effects relative forward movement of said yoke, said yoke having stop means thereon for engaging said frame means when said yoke is swung backwardly a predetermined amount, said yoke being provided with means for rotatably supporting a printing roller for engaging a said card to cause imprinting of its embossed portion, forward movement of said printing roller, as caused by forward movement of said carriage assembly, swinging said yoke backwardly whereby said top means engages said frame means to hold said printing roller in an imprinting position, said yoke being swung forwardly to move the stop means out of engagement with said frame means during return movement of said carriage assembly, thereby retracting said roller from imprinting position to avoid a second imprinting, said printing machine further having end closure means at each end of said base extrusion for closing the ends of said reaceways and said extrusion, said extrusion having generally cylindrical tubular depending lengthwise portions directly affixed to the lower surface of said table portion and said end closure means being secured to said extrusion by screws that are threaded into said cylindrical tubular depending portions.
 2. The printing machine of claim 1 having means for adjusting the position of the pivotal support of said yoke relative to said frame means, for varying the printing pressure of said printing roller.
 3. The printing machine of claim 1 wherein the portion of said carriage assembly engaged by said stop means of said yoke during forward movement of said carriage assembly comprises a pair of screws adjustably threaded through said frame and projecting out therefrom.
 4. The printing machine of claim 1 having means for adjusting the position of the pivotal support of said yoke relative to said frame for varying the printing pressure of said printing roller, both as a whole and from one side of said printing roller to the other.
 5. A printing machine for use with embossed credit cards and a standard size Of manifold forms, including in combination: a base extrusion having a uniform lateral cross setion throughout its length, providing in one integral piece a thin horizontal table portion and two thin vertical portions at each side thereof with thin horizontal flanges extending beyond said vertical portions to provide a roller guide and raceway, said extrusion providing also a thin integral guide channel at each side above said raceway to receive the opposite edge of said form and one edge of a said credit card for lateral location therof, a pair of anvil plates of different thickness removably secured to said extrusion, one which said credit card is to overlie and one for receiving a vendor''s embossed identification plate, removable guides secured to said table portion for locating said credit card for lengthwide location thereof, and a movable carriage assembly having a cover with a pair of side plates joined by a transverse plate of generally inverted U-shape, a pair of transport rollers rotatably supported by each said side plate and running in a said guide and raceway of said extrusion, an inner frame secured to said cover, a yoke inside said cover pivotally supported at its upper end by said inner frame for free swinging movement and having stop means thereon, said carriage assembly having a portion engaged by said stop means when said yoke swings rearwardly, and a printing roller rotatably supported by said yoke for engaging a said credit card supported by said table portion to cause imprinting of the embossed portion on a table-portion-supported said manifold form, without the use of springs, whereby forward movement of said printing roller, as caused by forward movement of said carriage assembly over said table portion causes said yoke portion to swing rearwardly until said stop means engages said portion of said carriage assembly to thereby hold said printing roller down in an imprinting position, and whereby return movement of said carriage assembly causes said yoke to be swung out of engagement with said carriage assembly so that said printing roller is retracted from its imprinting position, so as to avoid a second imprinting, end closure members at each end of said extrusion, said extrusion having a plurality of generally round cylindrical protrusions forming hollow channels beneath and integral with said table portion, extending lengthwise from end-to-end thereof, and screws securing each said end closure member to said base extrusion by entering and self-threading themselves to said cylindrical channels, said end closure members closing the ends of said roller guides and raceways and thereby limiting fore-and-aft movement of said carriage assembly and preventing the transport rollers from leaving their raceways.
 6. A printing machine for use with embossed credit cards and a wide variety of manifold forms, including in combination: a stationary anvil assembly, a base extrusion, uniform in lateral cross section throughout its length, pivotally secured to said anvil assembly at one end thereof and providing in one integral member a horizontal table portion and two vertical portions at each side thereof with horizontal flanges extending beyond said vertical portions to provide a roller guide and raceway, said extrusion having a pair of lengthwise extending slots through said table portion and having a plurality of lengthwise extending protrusions forming channels on the bottom urface of said table portion and reinforcing it, said channels being generally cylindrical in shape, at least one said channel lying between said slots, closure members at each end of said base extrusion and secured thereto by screws extending into a plurality of said channels, including the one lying between said slots, a bottom cover plate secured to the bottom of said extrusion and having a window therethrough, and a movable carriage assembly having a cover with a pair of side plates joinEd by a transverse plate of generally inverted U-shape a pair of transport rollers rotatably supported by each said side plate and running in a said guide and raceway, an inner frame secured to said cover, a yoke wholly inside said cover, pivotally supported at an upper end by said inner frame for free swinging movement, and swinging rearwardly when said carriage assembly is moved forwardly and swinging forwardly as said carriage assembly is moved rearwardly, said yoke having stop means thereon and having arms extending through said slots and beneath said table portion, said carriage assembly having a portion engaged by said stops when said yoke swings rearwardly, a printing roller rotatably supported by said yoke in said base extrusion in alignment with said window in at least one of its positions for engaging a said credit card supported on said anvil assembly to cause imprinting of the embossed portion on a form also supported on said anvil assembly, said roller being held in printing position by the stop means of said yoke engaging said portion of said carriage assembly, means pivotally mounting said base extrusion on said anvil assembly for swinging movement up therefrom to carry said carriage assembly with it, for insertions of said form and credit card, said base extrusion then being swingable down to overlie said anvil assembly, so that forward movement of said printing roller as caused by forward movement of said carriage assembly causes said yoke to swing rearwardly so that said stop means engages said portion of said carriage assembly to hold said printing roller down in an imprinting position, said yoke then being swingable forwardly out of engagement with said carriage assembly during return movement of said carriage assembly and printing roller, to retract said printing roller during return movement away from its imprinting position, thereby avoiding a second imprinting.
 7. The printing machine of claim 6 wherein said anvil assembly comprises a main plate and, removably and adjustably secured therto, means for aligning a said credit card and a said manifold form.
 8. The printing machine of claim 6 having means for adjusting the position of the pivotal support of said yoke relative to said inner frame for varying the printing pressure of said printing roller on said anvil assembly, both as a whole and from end to end. 